The Ending Of Behind Her Eyes Explained
Netflix's latest limited series, Behind Her Eyes, is a psychological and supernatural thriller that has certainly made a lot of noise with viewers. The show centers around three characters, Louise (Simona Brown), David (Tom Bateman), and Adele (Eve Hewson), each of whom have their own agenda as the show explores each individual's relationship with one another. David and Adele are a husband and wife whose marriage is falling apart. In comes Louise, one of David's workers, who gets caught up in their issues when she starts to have an affair with David.
However, the show adds a fantastical layer in the form of astral projection, allowing Adele and Louise to leave their bodies at will. In addition to this, Behind Her Eyes also contains a murder mystery plotline involving Rob (Roert Aramayo) — a deceased friend of Adele and David — that comes to a boil in the show's climactic conclusion. The ending of Behind Her Eyes involves a lot of twists and supernatural elements that make it just as, if not, more confusing than the conclusion of Inception. Here's a breakdown for viewers that were left scratching their heads. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
What in the world happened at the end of Behind Her Eyes?
Behind Her Eyes ends, in quite literally, a fiery blaze. After Louise discovers that Adele is trying to frame David for the murder of Rob, Adele decides to shoot up a bunch of heroin and set her house on fire while she's still inside. This prompts Louise to astral project into the home in order to try and see if there's a way to save Adele. However, it turns out that Adele was also astral projecting, and in a last minute twist she enters Louise's empty body and takes over. Additionally, Louise enters Adele's drug-induced body and can't force herself to escape the flame. To seal the deal, Adele, now in Louise's body, returns to the home and shoots more heroin inside her former body to ensure that Louise perishes in the flames.
However, it doesn't end here. It turns out that Rob had been "alive" this whole time — he was just "living" inside of Adele's body. The show fleshes out this revelation by explaining that Rob had always been in love with David, and he would go to any length to ensure that they lived happily ever after. In order to secure David, Rob had also tricked Adele into switching bodies so he could take over her body, and kill off his old body while Adele was still inside it. However, since Adele and David's marriage had been falling apart, David leaned on Louise for comfort. Rob-possesed Adele decides to enact this scheme all over again so he could get extra time with David, but this time in Louise's body.
The ending of Behind Her Eyes hasn't gone over too well with critics
If viewers felt that the ending was not only confusing, but also unsatisfying, they're not alone. Many critics felt that the introduction of astral projection and the twist ending was incredibly sloppy. Matthew Gilbert, a critic for the Boston Globe, explained that the ending drew attention to the show's identity crisis. "I like a good twist, but the twist in Behind Her Eyes is a groaner," he wrote. "The series switches genres, and the final chapter felt to me like a slap in the face — when it didn't make me laugh out loud at the absurdity."
Additionally, the show's ending also pointed out the lack of character depth. With Rob acting differently from how he was portrayed prior to his escape into Adele's body, it's hard to pinpoint his characterization. On top of this, Rob's desire for David isn't fully explored, bringing his character's motivation into question. Kathryn VanArendonk from Vulture also touched on this in her review of the show, where she wrote: "The empty characterization isn't egregious, but it seems like an apparatus that's been built around some hidden central engine the show doesn't want to reveal. Why are these people like this?"
What does the ending of Behind Her Eyes mean for the show?
While the series hasn't been confirmed for a second season, the cliff-hanger ending has audiences wondering if the show is open for another installment. Now that Rob's secret is out, and any witnesses are all presumably dead, it's hard to say where the show can go. The ending does hint that Louise's son can definitely tell something is off about his mom, but it's doubtful that her son can bust open the doors on this secret unless Louise teaches him how to astral project as well.
In addition to this, since Rob's plan didn't quite work out the first time, it's more than likely that the new life he'll lead inside of Louise's body will also blow up in his face. David will probably begin to crave a new thrill that will cause the Rob-possessed Louise to act out again in jealousy. After all, Louise may be a physically different person compared to Adele, it's still Rob that's inside her. It looks like history repeating itself seems to be a theme that the show touches on considering that Adele, David, and Louise all fell prey to the same scheme that Rob had concocted in the past. If the show were to continue, perhaps this theme will again become central to the plotline.